The Phantom of the Guitar
by The Phantom of the Guitar
Summary: In a small orphanage in modern New York City, Christine Daai fears turning 18 when she will be on her own until a friend from long ago, now a powerful banker, offers her freedom for her hand in marriage. A masked guitar player thinks otherwise.


In modern New York City, there was a small orphanage owned by a lady whom everyone called Madame Giry

In modern New York City, there was a small orphanage owned by a lady whom everyone called Madame Giry. She had a daughter, Meg Giry who was the most curious blonde to ever walk the earth. The famous orphanage was known to put great musicians out into the world and housed the daughter of a famous country fiddler, Christine Daai. Sadly, when one of Mr. Daai's band mates was 'high' on drugs, he _accidentally_ shot him in the chest, killing him instantly. There were no other known relatives so a friend of the family, a Persian man, insisted she be put in an orphanage known to have some great artists to its name.

So Christine Daai was put in the orphanage where she has been raised, along with seven other girls including Meg, by Madame Giry. And so she had been for the past eight years. Now she was seventeen and fearing her upcoming birthday when she would take her first plunge into the waters of life. It would be a 'sink or swim' situation and Madame Giry didn't have the money to take care of her without the funding she received for housing children.

Christine woke one night to the faint sound of music in the night. It was fall and still warm outside so the window in the dormitory was open. She walked over to it and looked out into the alley. There was a wooden fence about three feet about that was too high to see over and the alley led to the street in both directions.

"_I was a monster before I was a child,_

_I tried to hard,_

_And I fell to the ground,_

_Pity is worthless,_

_Sadness is hopeless,_

_It is what it was meant to be."_

It was a soft song played on the guitar. Emotions were weaved into the song so that you could feel the pain and understanding of the player. It became so mesmerizing; she snuck out of the room and down the hall into a small sitting room. As she eased open the front door, she winced at every squeak of the hinges.

The seventeen-year-old stood perfectly still for a few minutes to make sure no one had been wakened. Then she slipped out the door without shutting and headed down the alley towards where the song was coming from.

"_Don't come closer than you must,_

_There is beauty, _

_But it can't be seen._

_The monster will have his kill,_

_For his prey comes willingly tonight,_

_His soul is racked and his face…"_

Christine peered through a loose fence board that she had pushed aside. A man dressed in jeans and a red hooded sweatshirt was sitting on the ground next to an abandoned wooden building. His hood was up, but one could plainly see a bone-white mask covering the right side of his face. From what she could see of him, his skin was rough and scarred.

The guitar playing began again, but this time with renewed strength. Fury could be heard in it.

"_Why have the Gods cursed me?_

_What sin did mortal commit?_

_Why does an angel not come to save me?_

_Why won't they let me quit?"_

Christine pushed the loose board aside more and stepped into the small fenced in yard. The man looked up from his guitar and she saw he could no be much older than her, with enticing hazel eyes. His clothes were ragged and he wore black gloves on his hands. Panic came across his face and he threw the guitar strap over his shoulder and ran inside the building.

She was curious and followed inside the rickety door. The inside of the building reflected the outside except there were cobwebs everywhere. There were cracks in the cement floor and holes in the walls and ceiling. Even though it was not big, the man could be anywhere in the building for it was dark and she was partially afraid of him.

When she was sure she did not see him, Christine headed back out into the moonlight. His music had been enticing and mesmerizing, but the man himself, even more. She made her way slowly back to the orphanage, not before looking back several times, waiting for the man to call her back, but he did not show himself.

How interesting his music was. She had never heard it, so she assumed he wrote it himself. But how strange the lyrics for they passed emotions as she had never heard. They were not a whole song either, but individual riffs that each showed a different level of pain. A hand suddenly was over her mouth and something pulled her back into the fenced lot the strange man was in.

Nothing but an exasperated grunt could escape Christine's mouth and she bit down on the hand over her mouth. The body behind her led her to the wall of the building and slammed her against it. When she looked up, she saw a man with a drunken look on his face. Christine recovered faster than the man thought and she slapped him, yes out of all her options, slapped him in the face.

The man laughed and happily slapped her back. Christine was shocked and she kicked him in the groin. He fell to the ground breathing heavily and she started to make her getaway when she looked back. The man was starting to recover and this only made her run faster. When she reached the fence and started pulling it back, she chanced a look back and saw the man in a limping jog coming after her, and the strange man from before coming after the drunken man.

Christine slipped through the fence and pulled it back. Something slammed against the fence and after a few moments of labored breathing, there was silence. She pushed the fencepost aside and saw the man lying on the ground, nothing wrong with him, except he wasn't breathing. With her foot, she rolled him on his stomach and saw a guitar string tied around his neck, no doubt the cause of his death. She didn't even notice the masked man standing a few feet away. He was staring at her with his hazel eyes.

She was too shocked to ask him anything. This masked man; masked kid had just killed someone and didn't seem to be showing any remorse whatsoever. "Don't think badly of me," he begged. "I did it for you."

"But you do not even know me. Why would you kill a man for someone you do not know?"

He suddenly looked guilty. "I have looked upon you before. You are beautiful in ways you will never know."

"So you've spied on me?"

The masked man nodded and looked at the ground scuffling his feet. "I am very sorry."

"Why do you where a mask?"

"There are questions not meant to be asked. That is a good example of one of them."

"I'm sorry if I offended you."

"Nothing you do could ever hurt me."

"Well, I've got to get back to the orphanage or else Giry'll yell her head off."

"I will see you again Christine."

"Bye…"

"Erik."

"Erik," she repeated as she pushed the fence post away.

**Alright that was shorter than I originally thought it was going to be. This idea came to me at 11:00 pm when I was trying to fall asleep so bear with me because I'm sure this has happened to a few of you before. Funny it happened to be my username, but I'm not changing either of them. It's high time I got off my butt and started writing instead of reading all the time. Please read and review and constructive criticism is encouraged. **


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